Missing a certain male anatomy. Review on Halla Bol

Plot:

* A superstar sees a girl being shot in a club one night a la Jessica Lal and has a crisis of conscience. He remembers his humble beginning as a nukkad naatak performer Ashfaque Ullah(Ajay Devgan). This group is run by Siddhu(Pankaj Kapur/Kapoor), an ex-dacoit who was transformed after watching ‘Raja Harishchandra’. Ashfaque soon leaves for Mumbai leaving his lady love(Vidya Balan - not bad in a small role) behind and becomes the superstar he always wanted to be changing his name to Sameer Khan. Fame has its consequences though and his name is not the only thing he changes as he becomes typically apolitical, money minded person, who soon ends up distancing everyone. Ultimately,  he decides to stick his head out for truth. But as we all know the road to truth is hard so he has to battle corrupt ministers and liquor barons(!) to reach his destination(more fame?). On the way he manages to rouse the ‘common man’  to fight for justice.

*Positives:

Halla Bol offers a strong point against ‘Rang De Basanti’ by saying killing problematic people does not end the problem. In this respect it comes close to being admirable.

Though I am not a big fan of Devgan he is good here. But I somehow feel that he has been miscast in the role of a superstar.

Darshan Jariwala as the main villain proves his versitality(he played Gandhi in'Gandhi My Father' ) offering a deliciously hammy performance.

The most impressive acting is, of course,  from Pankaj Kapur/Kapoor. He even makes lame lines come across as solid.

*Problems:

Ajay Devgan's lack of glamour and looks make his superstar act unconvincing.  Besides this he is a superstar who does not do NRI love stories or musicals but does films which ask the common man to stand up for their rights, against injustice and corruption etc.

The writer must have thought this as a nice irony but it is quite problematic and adds to the unconvincing nature of the film. How has Sameer Khan on the basis of ‘socially relevant’ films become a super star in today’s world? Is the Bollywood film watcher already ‘awakened’ then? I know Santoshi is trying to show the difference in the real and reel image but wouldn’t it have made more sense if Sameer Khan was shown to be starring in the kind of romantic comedies our superstars actually make? It would have also made the half-assed attempts at satire more consistent.

The major problem with Raj Kumar Santoshi’s disappointing film is that none of the details look convincing. The world of Bollywood he creates is almost amateurish. There are just two heroes in the film industries, it seems, one Sameer Khan and the other a strange looking dude who in real life would be lucky if he got any roles as a sidekick.

As mentioned above, Pankaj Kapur/Kapoor is great but the script does not know what to do with him - make him Damini's Sunny Deol or an angrier version of Munnabhai practising Gandhigiri.

Thankfully, the presentation of a Muslim family does not involve the usual cliches(ghaghras, paans, skulls caps, mujras or terrorism.) It is interesting to note, however, that  the film side-steps the issue of communalism every time it potentially raises it’s head. Vidya Balan’ character is a Hindu and no one has any problem with her relationship and subsequent marriage to Khan. I am not complaining that Santoshi did not tackle this issue(would have been another dog’s dinner anyway) but like everything else it looks contrived and convenient the way he disposes it.

*Music:

* Pretty bad too. In the scene where Ajay Devgan is being beaten by goons, the juxtaposition of a highly inspirational song is almost hilarious.

My major grouse:

Adding to the fakery is that despite loaded references, no one is ever named. Why not actually make a film on Jessica Lal case if you are so concerned? There are saffron wearing goons but their party VHP is never named. The theater group is obviously based on Jana Natya Manch and the way Sameer Khan is beaten with lathis is reminiscent of that group’s founder Safdar Hashmi’s murder by the Congress goons. One very prominent member of Jana Natya Manch is even called Suddhu! How can a whole film then, based on a on a politically active, bold group be so coy?  What’s stopping the socially conscience filmmakers from naming them?

Fear of controversy? In this respect the film is like those stars who are afraid to take action becasue of their image. The same stars who are being chastened in the film.

Vidya Balan in a key scene tells the media that she admires her husband because he has balls. This reference to courage as an exclusively male anatomy is debatable but unknowingly, she offers the main problem here:

‘Halla Bol’ is about having balls - without it actually having any.